Simultaneous Measurement of Surface Proteins and Gene Expression from Single Cells

Single-cell transcriptomic analysis has become a new and powerful tool to study complex multicellular systems. Single-cell RNA sequencing provides an unbiased classification of heterogeneous cellular states at the transcriptional level, but it does not always correlate to cell-surface protein expression. A recently developed method called cellular indexing of transcriptomes and epitopes by sequencing (CITE-seq) simultaneously measures surface proteins and gene expression from single cells. Briefly, based on the existing single-cell sequencing technology, oligonucleotide-labeled antibodies and barcoded primer gel beads are used to bind to corresponding cell-surface proteins and mRNA, respectively. Further, libraries of labeled protein and RNA information are sequenced to integrate cellular protein and transcriptome reads together efficiently. CITE-seq is transforming comprehensive genomic studies into models of causal gene-protein investigation.